Tenuous Sanity

When they made it to the Uchiha graveyard it was to find Sasuke shirtless and already hard at work. Sakura and Itachi glanced at each other for a moment neither knowing what to say. After a moment Sakura realized there was nothing to be said so instead she moved and worked silently alongside Sasuke digging graves for the Uchiha who had not survived the world merging.

The silence gave Sakura time to think, and her thinking was mainly on behalf of the Uchiha because the honest fact was without some type of miracle the Uchiha weren't going to make it—at the very least Itachi wouldn't. Those with whole souls would remember that he had killed the entire Uchiha Clan and eventually it would be something that they would be told by some malicious person.

Even if the Itachi they knew hadn't done the deed they would still want vengeance. And that vengeance would extend to Konoha because she knew without a doubt that Itachi, if they decided not to kill him, would never be Hokage in this world whether she was his wife or not. Naruto would be and that was something she didn't want to change.

And then there was still the issue of Danzo. A Danzo full of memories of both worlds who wanted to kill her and obtain the power of the Uchiha for himself. That wasn't something that would go away by wishing it.

By the time Sakura paused, she was drenched in sweat and the only one who hadn't removed her top although the idea was tempting. Digging graves in the dark was no fun. Sakura glanced at Sasuke who hadn't stopped moving since she had arrived said, "Why aren't you with your mother?"

"Father wanted to be alone with her."

Fugaku. She had forgotten about him. She hadn't seen a glimpse of him the entire time. Sakura glanced at Itachi and knew that what she was planning she couldn't allow him to hear. He wouldn't agree with it. She wasn't entirely sure that she agreed with it, but she was going to encourage it.

"Itachi, can you go get Kakashi and bring him here?"

Itachi stiffened and she knew what he was thinking. "I am of mind to be your wife Itachi. You have nothing to worry about." She felt Sasuke's eyes on her, but she ignored them. "I need you to trust me."

Itachi nodded his head slightly and then disappeared. Sakura then turned to Sasuke. His brow was raised waiting, knowing she wanted to speak with him privately. When she was sure Itachi was gone, she began, "Danzo isn't going to let the Uchiha survive this. He's going to find a way to get the Uchiha massacre to occur."

"Why do you say this?"

Sakura's brow furrowed. "Because the Uchiha Clan, being the police force, will want answers. They will expose everything that he has done and make him pay for it."

"The Clan doesn't know that there is any treachery involved."

"Yes, but somehow, someway they will find out that Itachi is the reason they only have half a soul and they will thereafter demand answers. I will not have Itachi crucified for this."

"What do you want done? I will do it." His ready agreement took Sakura by surprise and made her heart skip a beat. It only made her more determined not to fail him, to not fail the Uchiha. As Itachi's fiancé she had never felt like a part of the Clan. While she knew a lot of that was because Itachi's parents were opposed to their marriage, she couldn't let that distract her. Sasuke trusted her and she couldn't let him feel his trust was misplaced.

"I want to expose Danzo and I want to do it quickly before he acts against us."

"How?"

"Tomorrow, we will hold and funeral for the Uchiha who have passed and after that the Clan has to have a meeting. But I'm not the Clan Head. I can't call a meeting."

"So?"

"I want you to talk to your mother and father and tell them Danzo's part in the story. Tell them why he did what he did."

"They'll want him dead."

"We need him dead."

Sasuke smirked. "I've wanted to kill him for years."

Sakura rolled her eyes. The Sasuke whose Clan was killed never talked much, but he had been very vocal in his desire to kill Danzo. He had also been very descriptive about how he wanted to do it. It was amazing that they had all managed to hold him back on it. "Yes, Sasuke I'm aware of that, but we must expose him to Konoha first."

Sasuke smirk fell away. "No assassination attempts."

"Only as a last resort."

Sasuke scowled and Sakura was hard pressed not to smile at him. She didn't know how he would react. In fact, on some levels she didn't even know how to deal with him anymore. Who was this Sasuke that he had become?

"Fine."

"You'll talk to them?" Sakura asked just to be sure causing Sasuke to raise a brow at her. "Ok, fine. I'll finish up here with Kakashi and Itachi."

"Aa." Sasuke said, but moved to keep digging. Sakura frowned at him for a moment, wondering why he hadn't left, but then realized she kept forgetting they weren't going to leave her alone. She got back to work.

Kakashi knew the second his personal space had been disturbed. He raised his head expecting, for some odd reason, to see Sakura, but finding instead Itachi Uchiha in her place. Kakashi's jaw clenched, but he forced himself to relax.

"What do you want?"

Itachi moved forward. "Sakura requests your presence."

Kakashi rose to his feet. "Why didn't she come herself?"

"Because she wanted to be alone with Sasuke."

That made Kakashi pause in alarm. He didn't know what that meant. Actually, he was afraid of what it could mean, but he wasn't the type to hide from the truth. "She's chosen?"

"Sakura will be my wife."

Kakashi didn't know whether or not that was arrogance or fact. Regardless, he wouldn't believe a word Itachi said until he spoke to Sakura himself. He couldn't, else he'd go mad.